IDC have been at the old researching game again, and this time they’ve decided that Apple’s iPad accounts for a massive 68% of worldwide tablet shipments, which we have to admit, isn’t to be sniffed at!

The results are for the second quarter of 2011, which means it is worth remembering that the recent influx of Android-powered tablets will no doubt have altered that landscape slightly…

That said, Apple did increase its share of worldwide shipments over the previous quarter, taking its percentage up from 65% to 68%.

“Worldwide media tablet shipments in the second quarter were driven by continued robust demand for Apple’s iPad 2, which saw shipments reach 9.3 million units, representing a 68.3% share of the worldwide market (up from 65.7% the previous quarter). Research in Motion entered the media tablet market in 2Q11 with its PlayBook product, grabbing a 4.9% share of the market. Apple’s strength and RIM’s entrance meant bad news for Android-based media tablets, which saw its collective share slip to 26.8%, down from 34.0% the previous quarter.”

Interestingly, IDC believes Android’s third quarter sales will shrink, thanks to the iPad 2’s continued strong sales, and the addition of HP’s now-discontinued TouchPad, which has recently seen a price drop to a bargainous $99. IDC believes this new price point will have potential Android buyers give the failed tablet a shot.

Google’s expansion into the tablet arena will no doubt see the market change over the coming months, but both HP and RIM’s lackluster performance shows that Apple’s iPad takes some beating. Can Google’s hardware partners come up trumps in the long term, and can the search giant bring the fire with Ice Cream Sandwich?

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^^^ thinking like a Google employee. Specs mean little when the OS is garbage. The iPad works and works well, suits any and everyone and has an app for everything. Android fumbles at even the simplist tasks like typing. I love waiting for the letters to show up 2 seconds after I have typed them. I love how it takes several seconds for the screen to orient itself after being rotated.

The Galaxy Tab is one of the worst tablets on the market to boot, which tells me you haven’t tried the Transformer or an iPad for that matter.

anon

“The Galaxy Tab is one of the worst tablets on the market”

So why is Apple bothering with suing them over frivolous design issues?